I Still Wear Clothes

Want to see the clothes I've been wearing?

Work clothes:

Like.

Eh.

Like.

Love! 

 Like.

Dislike.

Like.

Love!

Eh.

Love!

 

Like.

Love!

Dislike.

Eh.

 Love!

Casual clothes:

Like.

Like.

Love!

Love!

Do you agree or disagree with my assessments?

Trying Harder

I haven't been doing a good job lately of talking about the specific reasons I've been choosing my outfit pieces lately, nor giving good tips for your own wardrobe choices. For this, I apologize. I can only make the vague "Stuff has come up in my life!" excuse so many times before it starts to sound empty and meaningless. Instead, I will merely move on and attempt to do better in this post.

Thursday I decided I really had to break the sweater-skinnies-boots habit, so I opted for a skirt-blouse combo instead:

The weather was warming up a bit, so I didn't need the comfort and warmth of knee-high boots and sweaters anymore. This blouse is of a lightweight material, so it was weather-appropriate, and wearing the ankle boots kept more of my leg out to get air... Well, as much air as a leg clad in tights is going to get.

I've lost count of how many times I've talked, on this blog, about the importance of balancing your outfits; at the most simplified, it goes like this: tight on bottom means loose on top, and loose on bottom means tight on top. (Keep in mind there are still appropriate levels of "loose" and "tight" for different events/situations.) This outfit is a great example of that. The blouse is loose not only in the torso, but also in the ballooned-out sleeves, and the pencil skirt is well-fitted. The belt at the waist helps define the contrast between the top and bottom, cinching right in the middle.

In the same way that fit should be balanced, I'm a firm believer that prints should be balanced as well. You'll note that there are large polka dots on the top, a very bold print, but a solid colored skirt, solid tights, and solid colored booties to offset that print. You'll see I didn't include any kind of necklace with the top because the print is so... big. The bracelet and earrings are both very low-key as well.

I have no good excuse for having accidentally cut off the top of my head in this picture. Sorry about that.
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Friday was a jeans day at school (or a "blue and gold" day, but I had no gold in my outfit of choice), and I went with my favorite pair, my dark-wash skinny jeans. I opted for a classic white button-down top and my awesome statement necklace, with my fawn-colored flats to complete the look.

I think far too many people, both young and old, underestimate how awesome this combo can be: jeans and a button-down blouse. Do you know how much extra time it takes me to put on a button-down blouse rather than a t-shirt? A little, 'cause, you know... buttons and all. But really, it doesn't add all that much time, and the look in the end is great. The classic white and blue (jeans) combo was a great backdrop for my statement necklace that I love so much, too.

Do you only see button-down shirts as "formal" or "business" attire? Or would you wear them casually? If you wouldn't before, will you consider it now?

New Statement Necklace

Another one of my October budget purchases was this fabulous new necklace:

 

This kind of necklace is usually referred to as a "statement necklace." Outfits have to be carefully planned to showcase a statement piece like this, as they need to be almost entirely neutral to keep the focus on the jewelry. I wanted a light top so that the blue would stand out more strongly, and I wore simple black skinnies on the bottom. My black Mary-Jane shoes kept the whole thing casual and understated.

So what do you think of the necklace? They're very "in" right now, and available in many colors at many locations...

The next day's outfit was not centered around one piece, however, so a number of pieces got to work together to create a great - in my opinion - look:

I did have some problems with the fact that my pants kept falling down through the day. I've lost a little weight lately, which is nice and all, but it's making some of my clothing options a bit... less than ideal. Once I was at school, I realized choosing a different belt and actually wearing it to hold up the pants would have been better than wearing the skinny black belt around my waist to nip the cardigan.

Upon looking at the pictures, I feel like I look a bit like a ringmaster at a circus, but not necessarily in a bad way. I suspect the outfit would have worked better with black pants than these cream-colored ones, but after Clarence Ford's comment on yesterday's post, I felt like maybe I should wear lighter colors.

SO... Which outfit do you like better? The statement necklace? Or the ringmaster ensemble?


Get the look for yourself:
Black skinnies - Gap, available here.
Blouse - Target; similar here.
Shoes - Payless, available here.
Necklace - Amazon, available here.
Ivory skinnies - Express; similar here.
Top - Target, available here.
Cardigan - Target, available here.
Belt - Amazon, available here.
Boots - Payless; similar here.